Then Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard described Black Saturday as "a tragedy beyond belief, beyond precedent and beyond words … one of the darkest days in Australia’s peacetime history.

[15] The Premier of Victoria John Brumby issued a warning about the extreme weather conditions expected on 7 February: "It's just as bad a day as you can imagine and on top of that the state is just tinder-dry.

[16] More than 19,000 firefighting personnel, mainly from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), were deployed across the state on Friday evening (6 February) in anticipation of the extreme conditions the following day.

[21] Around midday, as wind speeds were reaching their peak, an incorrectly rigged 'SWER' (single-wire earth return) mains power cable was ripped down at Kilmore East.

Just before midday on 7 February, high winds felled a 2 km (1.2 mi) section of power lines owned by SP AusNet in Kilmore East, sparking a fire at approximately 11:45 am in open grasslands that adjoined pine plantations.

[64] Dense smoke and cloud cover had hindered assessment of the Beechworth fire, but as conditions cleared late on 8 February, aerial crews were able to commence surveys of the situation.

[69] Residents of Beechworth and surrounding towns were advised on the evening of 10 February to expect increased smoke cover as 250 firefighters would be undertaking backburning to eliminate fuel within the control lines.

[80] On 7 November 2011, the Victorian Supreme Court Justice, Paul Coghlan, on advice from the prosecutor, Steven Milesi, found that the two youths were unfit to stand trial before a jury due to their intellectual disabilities.

[81] In Redesdale, southeast of Bendigo, a fire starting 9 km (5.6 mi) west of the town burnt 10,000 ha (25,000 acres) and destroyed twelve houses and various outbuildings.

[99] Wind changes that evening exacerbated parts of the Churchill complex, causing the CFA to issue further warnings to residents at Won Wron and surrounding areas.

[60] A man from Churchill,[101] Brendan Sokaluk of Chuchill,[102] was arrested by police on 12 February and charged with one count each of arson causing death and intentionally lighting a bushfire.

[107] In the weeks following Black Saturday, fires were started in bushland along Terrys Avenue in Belgrave (which was quickly contained and extinguished by the CFA), and Lysterfield State Forest in Upwey.

[110] Crikey reported that locals were divided on the merits of the plan, some concerned as to why the back-burning had not been carried out earlier, and some worried at the large scale of the proposed burns, which were reported to be larger than both the existing fire as well as the April 2005 fires that affected the park[111] Strong easterly winds on 12 February forced authorities to postpone the proposed burns lest they themselves pose a danger to surrounding communities, though they did proceed with preparatory work.

[115] The fire was ignited at 12:30 pm on 7 February when strong winds initiated the failure of a 40-year-old tie wire, felling a power line at Remlaw, west of the city.

[121] The fire destroyed one house, two haysheds, three tractors, the Coleraine Avenue of Honour, and 200 km (120 mi) of fences,[120] as well as injuring livestock, but firefighters were able to save six other homes, including that of the parents of Victorian Premier John Brumby.

[127] The fire is thought to have been started by sparking from felled power lines along the Princes Highway, which carried restricted speeds for a short time due to the heavy smoke in the area.

[128] Investigations began almost immediately following the fires to determine a wide variety of things, including identification of victims, cause of ignition sources, and assessments of authority responses.

A Royal Commission into the Black Saturday bushfires was conducted, a process that was intended to determine the true nature of the background causes, preparation of responsible agencies, circumstances on the day, chronology, and impacts of the events in question.

Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, formed a taskforce to assist in identifying victims, coordinated by Inspector Greg Hough.

[133] On 12 February, two people were arrested in connection with the fires, having been observed by members of the public acting suspiciously in areas between Yea and Seymour; however, they were subsequently released without charges being laid.

[135] Despite the order, several members of the public obtained his photograph from his MySpace profile and published it on the social networking website Facebook along with his home address, and others made threats of violence against him.

On 12 February, a small number of arrests were made, and charges laid against people in relation to "looting offences", as announced by the Victoria Police chief commissioner, Christine Nixon.

[140] The Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, announced in April 2009 that a royal commission into the fires would be held which would examine "all aspects of the government's bushfire strategy".

[170] It is expected that eventually all Victorian councils responsible for both urban and rural land will need to develop such plans, which define fire risks in open space areas, along major roads, and in parkland.

However, the report also estimated that up to 13 per cent of residential properties destroyed may have had no insurance, with many more under-insured, thus suggesting that the actual cost of asset damage in the bushfires was considerably higher than that recorded.

[180] A total of nearly $700 million (after legal expenses) was shared among the claimants of the two highly complex class actions, which were presided over by Justices Jack Forrest and John Dixon.

[186] David Packham, bushfire expert and research fellow at Monash University, argued that high fuel loads in bushland led to the destructive intensity of the fires, saying that "There has been total mismanagement of the Australian forest environment.

[193] As part of the building codes debate, an expert panel recommended in 2010 that the state government ban housing in the highest fire risk areas, which are some of the most dangerous in the world.

[195] Another member of the panel, international planning expert Roz Hansen, said that she was "disappointed and alarmed" about the decision to rebuild Marysville, stating that it was unlikely that a new development would have been permitted in the area.

She went on to say that in parts of Asia, people had been forcibly moved out of unacceptably high risk cyclone and flooding areas in the public interest despite the difficulties this involved.